


Whumptober 2019 - 31 - Embrace

by OllieCollie



Series: Whumptober 2019 [31]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: Brotherly feels, Brothers, Flashback, Gen, PTSD, Pre-Series, Whump, sliiight fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OllieCollie/pseuds/OllieCollie
Summary: He clambered to his feet, vaguely aware of the fact that blood was steadily leaking from his own wounds, the crimson liquid staining his dirt-smeared uniform. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils, and he nearly gagged.





	Whumptober 2019 - 31 - Embrace

**Author's Note:**

> GUYS!!!! It's the LAST DAY of Whumptober!!! I'm halfway sad and halfway relieved. I can't believe I actually pushed through. 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me for this crazy ride! It was so much fun! *Maybe* I'll do it again next year! ;P For now, I am in need of much, much fluff and love. Suggestions/requests are welcome!

He couldn’t breathe. The explosion must have knocked him right off his feet. The deafening bang was still resounding in his ears. There had been no signs of anything out of the ordinary…how had it happened? 

He clambered to his feet, vaguely aware of the fact that blood was steadily leaking from his own wounds, the crimson liquid staining his dirt-smeared uniform. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils, and he nearly gagged.

Bodies. There were bodies everywhere. His head spun as he surveyed the damage around him.  _ No…  _

A still figure just a few yards away caught his attention. “ _ Mouse! _ ” The shout tore from his throat. There was too much blood…the kid was still,  _ too  _ still. His eyes were closed and his face pale… 

“Jay!”

He startled at the loud voice that seemed to permeate through the scene. A voice that he definitely shouldn’t have been hearing at that moment.

“Hey, bud—it’s me, it’s Greg.” The voice was closer now, and the hot desert air surrounding Jay was beginning to fade. 

Fear clutched him again, in a way that was hard to describe. He knew he needed to take a deep breath, but he just couldn’t seem to make himself slow down. He let out a low growl. “Get back!” He glanced down at his hands that were clamped against the wound in his side…the wound that wasn’t there anymore. What happened to all of the blood? 

“Hey.” the voice that sounded oddly like Mouse’s interrupted again, firmer this time. “Look at me, Jay.”

Jay blinked, and the face in front of him slowly came into view. The very much alive face of Greg Gerwitz. “M—Mouse?” His tone teetered on the edge of uncertainty, as if he wasn’t exactly sure he could believe what he was seeing. As if he was trying to decide what was real.

“Yeah,” Mouse said, his brow furrowed in concern. “I’m here, Jay. You’re in the apartment. In Chicago. We’re home.”

Home? They were home? 

“Hey, talk to me. Do you know where you are?”

The world around him slowly came into focus—the living room behind Mouse, the lit screen of the TV. The faint, lingering smell of Chinese takeout. “M—Mouse?” Jay asked again, feeling his best friend’s hand pressing against his trembling shoulder. “We’re...in Chicago,” he muttered, parroting Mouse’s earlier words.

The younger man nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, that’s right.” 

All at once, reality sank in on him, and Jay collapsed to the floor, his shaky legs unwilling to bear his weight for another second. His breaths came in short gasps as he fought to make sense of, well, everything.

“Woah, hey.” Mouse crouched next to him, an understanding and sympathetic smile passing over his tired face. “Just breathe.”

Jay watched his friend, doing his best to mimic the other man’s breathing. 

“There you go.” Mouse gave the other man his signature smirk. “You all right?”

“I—I…” The “I’m fine” wouldn’t come out. So Jay just shook his head instead.

“The…convoy?” His friend’s words were so quiet and hesitating that Jay barely heard them. He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed, unable to explain the sudden wave of emotion that overcame him. “Mouse…” The way his voice trembled wasn’t fair. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t  _ supposed  _ to be such a wreck. “You know I thought…I thought you were dead,” he finished in a thick whisper, barely able to keep back the tears. His eyes burned. “I just…I try to not—think about it.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “But I keep  _ seeing  _ it—” He had to cut himself off, knowing he wouldn’t be able to say any more. He let out a deep, shaky breath.

Jay was just so  _ done _ . He was exhausted. There were only so many flashbacks a person could handle. Only so many nightmares. He felt a single tear find its way past his defenses and roll down his cheek.  _ Darn it.  _ What was wrong with him tonight? When was the last time he’d actually  _ cried _ ? Jay decided to blame the overload of emotions on his lack of sleep and weaning off the painkillers.

“I know, man. I know.” Mouse’s hand squeezed Jay’s shoulder in a comforting, brotherly gesture.

Jay shook his head slightly. “I—I don’t know if I can do this, Mouse. I never thought it would be so  _ hard _ .” He’d heard stories of men returning from war completely changed, but he, in all his youthful pride, always sort of thought he was invincible. Well, he’d sure been proven wrong.

“You can do this, Jay,” the other man told him. “I know it’s hard.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “You of all people should know I know.” Mouse tilted his head slightly. “You’re not alone. We have each other. Brothers, right?”

Brothers. For a split second, that awful day in Afghanistan flashed before his eyes again. They’d lost everyone that day. Everyone except each other.

And then suddenly Mouse was there, pulling Jay into a tight hug. “It’s gonna be okay, man.”

Jay sank into the embrace, fighting back tears once again. Tears of exhaustion, of grief, of pain. He knew Mouse wasn’t pretending he was okay. He wasn’t telling Jay that they had to be okay, either. They both knew the road ahead was long and daunting.

But if nothing else, at least they had each other. Best friends. Brothers-in-arms. And they’d get through the coming days together.

**Author's Note:**

> So, what were your thoughts on Whumptober? Let me know!


End file.
